Overtime pay

The protracted standoff between Customs, immigration and quarantine personnel at Naia and Mactan International Airport on one hand and the Board of Airline Representatives on the other over the issue of overtime pay may come to a head sooner than expected. Airlines, both domestic and foreign, still refuse to cover these employees’ overtime pay despite the fact that this has been the practice for the past 35 years.

I have been told that Customs, immigration and quarantine personnel at the two international airports have decided to stop working beyond the eight-hour period required of them as government personnel.

Since Customs is the one that opens doors for airlines coming in and going out, and immigration is the one that clears visas upon entry, the issue has international repercussions. And all because domestic and foreign airlines have utter disregard for the rule of law.

The crisis started when the Court of Appeals ruled that overtime pay for Customs, immigration and quarantine constituted “double compensation” and was therefore illegal. A motion for reconsideration was filed. Since the matter involved a constitutional question, it could even be elevated to the Supreme Court.

But the Board of Airline Representatives, headed by the Philippine Air Lines, decided instead to stop paying the overtime charges disregarding the fact that doing so was a violation of the rule of law. The Board has even demanded that the overtime pay should come from an additional $1 terminal fee, and that it should be government that should pay the overtime, which is an impossible demand since the national budget does not envision overtime pay for Customs, immigration and quarantine. The airlines even tried to offer paying only 50 percent—a clear slap on the face of Customs, immigration and quarantine.

Unless this crisis is resolved soon, the country’s tourism, attempts to attract foreign investment and its image are doomed to suffer. The President must step in. There is too much at stake. –Emil Jurado, Manila Standard Today